U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra before a bilateral meeting at the Thai Government House in Bangkok on Nov. 18, 2012. (Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)

U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton view the Vihan of the Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho in Bangkok, Thailand on Nov. 18, 2012. (Pete Souza/U.S. Department of State)

L to R: U.S. Ambassador to Thailand Kristie Kenney, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and U.S. President Barack Obama meet with King Bhumibol Adulyadej in Bangkok, Thailand on Nov. 18, 2012. (Pete Souza/U.S Deptartment of State)

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra offers a toast at an official dinner with U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at the Government House in Bangkok, Thailand on Nov. 18, 2012. (Pete Souza/U.S. Department of State)

On a three-day tour of Southeast Asia, U.S. President Barack Obama visited Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia in a diplomatic exchange intended to encourage political reform.

He marks history as the first sitting President to visit Myanmar, where he was greeted by tens of thousands of people and met both President U Thein Sein and opposition leader, Aung Sang Suu Kyi.

In a speech at the University of Yangon in Myanmar, he said, "I have come to keep my promise and extend the hand of friendship." His historical visit signals a hopeful progress of Southeast Asian countries working towards a democratic transition.

Myanmar was the middle stop in Obama's tour. He spent Sunday in Bangkok, where he met Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and King Bhumibol, and proceeded from Yangon to Phnom Penh, where he was scheduled to attend meetings with leaders from around the region as part of the ASEAN summit.

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